Ben George will be joined by Jake Vella in supercross for Team Axis Motorsports Kawasaki Maxima. Image: Traci Hyde.

Team Axis Motorsports Kawasaki Maxima has announced that Jake Vella has signed for the team ahead of the upcoming Terex Australian Supercross Championships.

Vella, who has recently returned from a three-month stint training in the US, replaces injured team regular Dylan Leary and will line up alongside Ben George to contest the Under 19s series.

“Spending time in the US showed me how much I needed to lift my game,” Vella said. “Every track I went to made me ride consistently faster. There’s not just a couple of fast guys out there – everyone was quick!

“So for me I needed to be faster than those guys to know I would be competitive in the US. I’m also very thankful for the opportunity to ride for Axis Motorsports. We’ve done some intensive testing in the short three-week preparation and the setup we have come up with have exceeded my expectations.

“I was preparing to do the series as a privateer, so to show up to round one on one of the Axis bikes gives me even more confidence now.”

Team owner Andrew Hopson is ready to go racing, excited at the prospect of having both George and Vella on track.

“Ben’s concussion at round two of the MX series didn’t really allow him to get momentum going,” Hopson said. “We wanted to give him every opportunity to do well in this year’s supercross championship, which is why we have been working harder than ever with him.

“I am also confident in Jake Vella as a replacement for Dylan Leary. When Leary injured himself training, we were unsure whether to replace him or not. So when Jake Vella called up and said he was available, it was another opportunity to give a local Racer a chance to ride with factory support.

“Both Ben and Jake have been brought up riding SX. I am confident in their ability and look forward to some strong results”.

Axis Motorsports will be at Dubbo this Saturday night for round one of the 2012 championship.